They Called Me Mad(Artificer with army of UMD-using constructs)

[Angry Bob]

Exactly what it sounds like. When you advance homunculi, do they get feats/skills? What homunculus is most cost-effective and efficient to advance to use wands and staffs? Most useful in a combat situation? What wands/other items are best for this route? I'm thinking furtive filcher or expeditious messenger. With a Packmate ready to force-feed me Cure Serious Wounds potions when lots of them go down at once.

The eventual idea is that my artificer builds one of those elemental skyships from Eberron, mans it with wand-wielding homunculi gunners for defense, and flies the party around in style.

Any suggestions? Pretty much all books legal.

[Elvenoutrider]

I had a similar idea for a character in my campaign. My dm, rather than having my humunculi have Umd, allowed me to give them wands that operated using triggers or buttons so anyone could use them.